Universal Declaration of Human Rights

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Crioulo da Guiné-Bissau (Guinea Bissau Creole)

Source: Procuradoria-Geral da Republica, Portugal

It is a creole language of Portuguese basis , it is the mother tongue of virtually all Cape Verdeans , and it is used as a second language by descendants of Cape Verdeans in other countries. Cape Verdean Creole has particular importance for creolistics studies since it is the oldest (still-spoken) creole, the Portuguese-based creole with the greatest number of native speakers, the most studied Portuguese-based creole, and about to become one of the few creoles recognized as an official language.

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Native NameCrioulo da Guiné

Total Speakers580,000 (2002)

Usage By CountryHome Speakers: Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, Senegal

Background It is a Portuguese-based creole. The Senegal dialect is a little different, but they are intelligible to each other's speakers. The lingua franca in much of Guinea-Bissau, more in the west than in the east. There are 3 dialects Bissau- Bolama Creole, Bafatá Creole and Cacheu-Ziguinchor Creoley